How to make Hot Water Crust for Pies
It’s cold in the Southern Hemisphere, forgive us if this recipe is not suitable for your current balmy summer evenings, somewhere else. It maybe one to keep for colder times.
Although there is no end of pasta at my house (Skaters choice/ teenager) a pie is always more than welcome. The two of us have a project in mind this week, and that is for me to teach him how to make a good Chicken and vegetable Pie. This is apparently what he would like to be able to master culinarily speaking, and I am more than happy to encourage such a lesson.
We have made the Quick Chicken Pie into an art, using both puff pastry and filo pastry in the past. This hot water crust is a little more interesting. It’s firm and chewy and really survives rough treatment more importantly it lives through a microwave blitz as a left over food. (As all food should in a house containing a teenage boy) We haven’t made the chicken version yet, but this one was welcomed warmly.
Wrap your hot water crust around any left over foods you might have. Try leftovers such as bolognese or ragu, maybe you have some roast vegetables or chicken, a stew that just isn’t quite enough to go around. All these are great ways to use this crust. Be inspired and make a chunky pork sausage filling instead of using left overs because this crust is perfect for pork pies. What ever you do with it, it’s easy to handle. I wanted to test this recipe to make sure it was easy enough for Skater. I had this in one of my recipe books so I filled my pie with left over lazagne filling of Slow Braised Lamb and Porcini. The filling is best if it isn’t too runny.
Easy Hot Water Crust for Pies
Ingredients
- 150 gm butter salted or unsalted 5.29 oz
- 200 ml water 7 fl oz
- 2 whole eggs (100gm- 3.5oz)
- 450 gm plain flour 3 cups / 15.85 gm
- 1/4 teaspoon salt salt is important for browning and flavour here
- 1 whole egg yolk
- 1/8 teaspoon salt for glazing beaten together with yolk
Instructions
- Set the oven to 180C / 350 F. use a 20- 23 cm / 8- 10 in pie dish
- Put the chopped butter and water into a small pot and put over a medium heat until the butter dissolves and the liquid reaches a rolling boil. Take off the heat.
- Cool a little. Mix the flour and salt together and pour the butter mixture and the flour mixture into a mixer bowl. (of a stand mixer)
- Mix the two eggs together in a cup breaking up with a fork. Pour the eggs over the flour butter mixture and turn onto low immediatly mixing togetherly. This can also be mixed by hand
- Mix until the dough forms a ball. Pour out onto a bench and push the dough into a disc. ( if using a wooden spoon stir till the liquid is all but mixed in and then knead lightly). Over kneading will give a tougher crust, so work it gently till it is nice and smooth. If your dough is very sticky and stays in clumps on your hands then sprinkle with more flour till it just comes together. ( some eggs are bigger and some flour is just not as absorbent).
- Cool the pastry a little and refrigerate till cold
- Once the pastry is cool. Divide into x 2 . One disc should be about 3/4 of the dough and 1/4 left for a lid. Use a little flour to roll it out the dough and push into a greased pie plate. The pastry is plyable.
- Fill the base with your cool filling, then brush the edges with egg and add the lid. Crimp around the top
- Paint the top with egg yolk mixed with salt and pierce a couple of holes on the top.
- Bake at 180 C degrees for approximately 35-40 minutes or until golden
Hot water crust
Pastry cooling
Ready to be rolled
This cake tin makes a great pie dish – non stick removable bottom
Rolling
rolling the pastry
Simple hot water crust
Give it a try and let me know if it was easy for you
I’m only at the dough stage, but I’ve made enough pies in my life to tell this dough recipe is A+! I feel like I’ve wasted years of my life without it! ?
Thanks so much. let me know how you go